Theoclymenus Taken Aboard

29It was his son who now approached; his name
Was Theoclymenus; he saw the prince
Telemachus, who stood beside the swift
Black ship, and, pouring a libation, prayed;
And thus he said to him in winged words: —

30“My friend, whom here beside this barque I find
Making a pious offering, I entreat
Both by that offering and the deity,
And by your life, and by the lives of these
Who follow you, declare to me the truth,
And keep back naught of all that I inquire —
Who are you, from what race of men, and where
Your city lies, and who your parents are.”

31Then spoke in turn discreet Telemachus:
“Stranger, to every point I answer you.
I am by race a son of Ithaca,
My father was Odysseus when alive,
But he has died a miserable death;
Long years has he been absent, and I came
With my companions here, and this black ship,
To gather tidings of my father’s fate.”

32Then said the godlike Theoclymenus:
“I too, like you, am far away from home;
For I have slain a man of my own tribe,
And he had many brothers, many friends,
In Argos famed for steeds. Great is the power
Of those Achaians, and I flee from them
And the black doom of death, to be henceforth
A wanderer among men. O, shelter me
On board your galley! I, a fugitive,
Implore your mercy, lest they overtake
And slay me; they are surely on my track.”

33And thus discreet Telemachus replied:
“If you desire to come on board my ship,
I shall not hinder you. Come with us then,
And take a friendly share in what we have.”

34So saying he received his brazen spear,
And laid it on the good ship’s deck, and went
Himself on board, and, taking at the stern
His place, he seated Theoclymenus
Beside him. Then the mariners cast loose
The hawsers, and Telemachus gave forth
The order to prepare for sea. They heard
And eagerly obeyed; they raised the mast,
A pine-tree stem —and, bringing it to stand
In its deep socket, bound it there with cords,
And hoisted by their strongly twisted thongs
The ship’s white sails. The blue-eyed Athena sent
A favorable and fresh-blowing wind,
That swept the sky to drive more speedily
The galley through the salt-sea waves. They came
To Cruni, and to Chalcis pleasantly
Watered by rivers. Now the sun went down;
Night closed around their way, but onward still
A favorable wind from Zeus
Toward Pherae bore them, and the hallowed coast
Of Elis, where the Epeian race bear sway,
And then among the isles whose rocky peaks
Rise from the waters. Here Telemachus
Mused thoughtfully on what his fate might be —
To perish by the ambush or escape.